Ben Stiller has let slip on the secret behind one of Tropic Thunder’s most iconic characters, crediting none other than Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise for the genius addition.
During a recent interview session on the New Heights podcast, the mastermind behind Severance divulged how a simple nudge from Cruise changed the comedy film.
Cruise pointed out a missing piece in Stiller’s satirical take on the film business, leading to the birth of Les Grossman, the gut-bustingly funny studio executive.
The unmissable character, played with gusto by Cruise alongside co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, turned out to be no accident but rather a stroke of comedic brilliance from the Mission: Impossible star.
A viral clip from Stiller’s podcast revelation has fans buzzing across social platforms since being shared on X, revealing that Stiller “called up” Cruise to collaborate on the film.
Stiller said: “He looked at it [Tropic Thunder] and he said ‘You make fun of the actors, you make fun of everybody, the agents and all that, but you don’t make fun of the studio heads. You should have a studio head!’ So it was his idea, that character did not exist before he suggested it.
“It became such an important part of the story and this is three months before the start of shooting the movie. Justin Theroux and I were working on it and rewrote these scenes and put them in, and Tom said ‘also, I feel like I want to dance in the movie, I just want to dance’ so this was purely his instinct.”
Fans have since lauded Cruise’s knack for understanding what makes a film successful, with one admirer commenting: “It’s crazy how good at movies Tom Cruise is.”
Another fan posted: “Tom Cruise’s performance in Tropic Thunder (2008) is pure comedy gold.
“All aspects of Les Grossman were developed by Cruise himself, the dancing, the make-up, even the oversized prosthetic hands. ‘Les grosse mains’ translates to ‘big hands’ in French. This is marvelous.”
During a stint on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Stiller revealed how he persuaded Cruise to feature in Tropic Thunder.
He informed the Oscars host that Tugg Speedman, the character Stiller portrays, had initially been penned for Cruise. However, the Eyes Wide Shut star declined the lead role, opting instead for a smaller part.
Stiller explained: “It’s a strange set of circumstances the way this happened. We had done this little short for the MTV movie awards where I played this stuntman, and that’s where we had a great time doing that together and had stayed in touch since then.
“I’d had this idea for the movie for a long time and had been working on it with Justin Theroux, and Etan Cohen came on later, and I had talked to Tom about it. Originally I wanted Tom to play my part. But I was really too nervous to ask him to do it, he has other stuff to do, and he’s so nice and just the greatest guy but I didn’t want to bother him with it.”